Subscribe to this blog

Follow by Email

The Mistletoe Bride & other haunting tales by Kate Mosse

I am a huge fan of Kate Mosse and her beautiful novels as anyone who follows my site will know from my reviews of Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel. Her latest new release is a short story collection where I discovered the urban legend of The Mistletoe Bride. I just love it when you find a new book and there is an unexpected connection to the nineteenth-century.

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

“I hear someone coming.

Has someone caught the echo of my
footsteps on these floorboards? It is possible. It has happened before.
I pause and listen, but now I no longer hear anything. I sigh. As
always, hope is snatched away before it can take root.

Even now, after so long, I cannot
account for the fact that no one ever ventures into this part of this
house. I do not understand how I am still waiting, waiting after all
these years. Sometimes I see them moving around below. Sense their
presence. Bramshill House has been home to many families in my time and,
though the clothes and the styles and the customs are different, it
seems to me that each generation is much the same. I remember them all,
their faces alive with the legends of the house and the belief that it
is haunted. Men and women and children, listening to the stories. The
story of a game of hide-and-seek.

I pray that this will be the day.
The end of my story. That, this time, someone at last will find me. But
the halls and the corridors beneath me are silent again.

No one is coming.

And so then, as always, I am carried back to that Christmas so very long ago.”

BACKGROUND AND HISTORY OF THE MISTLETOE BRIDE

The urban legend, myth, folklore behind The Mistletoe Bride
began with a poem, ‘Ginerva’ by Samuel Rogers in his book, ‘Italy’ published in
1823. I checked my copy of Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino to see if there
was an Italian based similar myth but couldn’t find a correlating story. ‘The Mistletoe Bride’ is a story of a newly
married couple married in a large farmhouse where she grew up. After the
wedding the guests played a game of hide and seek where the groom was it.The bride wanting to win, went into the manor
house, ran up to the attic, found an old trunk and hid in it. Nobody could find
her including her husband who just figured she grew
tired and went to sleep. After everyone went home, he began looking for her but
couldn’t find her anywhere. She was never found until a few years later when
her mother died. The woman’s father was looking through his wife’s things
collecting dust in the attic when he found an old chest. The lid was closed and
the old lock was rusted shut. Eventually, he opened the lid and was terrified
to see his daughter’s corpse there in the chest. When she hid there, the lid
had closed and the rusty parts of the lock had latched together, trapping her
inside. She suffocated to death.

The tale of The Mistletoe Bride was gaining popularity in
the nineteenth century, so much so that it was popularized in song, ‘The
Mistletoe Bough’ written by T.H. Bayley in 1884 where singing it around
Christmas began a yearly occurrence in English households throughout England.

The Mistletoe Bough by Thomas Haynes Bayley (song, 1884)

The mistletoe hung in the castle hall
The holly branch shone on the old oak wall.
The Baron’s retainers were blithe and gay,
Keeping the Christmas holiday.

The Baron beheld with a father’s pride
His beautiful child, Lord Lovell’s bride.
And she, with her bright eyes seemed to be
The star of that goodly company.
Oh, the mistletoe bough.
Oh, the mistletoe bough.

Away she ran, and her friends began
Each tower to search and each nook to scan.
And young Lovell cried, “Oh, where do you hide?
I’m lonesome without you, my own fair bride.”
Oh, the mistletoe bough.
Oh, the mistletoe bough.

They sought her that night, they sought her next day,
They sought her in vain when a week passed away.
In the highest, the lowest, the loneliest spot,
Young Lovell sought wildly, but found her not.

The years passed by and their brief at last
Was told as a sorrowful tale long past.
When Lovell appeared, all the children cried,
“See the old man weeps for his fairy bride.”
Oh, the mistletoe bough.
Oh, the mistletoe bough.

At length, an old chest that had long laid hid
Was found in the castle; they raised the lid.
A skeleton form lay mouldering there
In the bridal wreath of that lady fair.

How sad the day when in sportive jest
She hid from her lord in the old oak chest,
It closed with a spring and a dreadful doom,
And the bride lay clasped in a living tomb.
Oh, the mistletoe bough.
Oh, the mistletoe bough.

The belief is that the setting of the story and song must be
Minster Lovell Hall a manor house belonging to Lord Lovell located in the village
of Minster Lovell in Oxfordshire. One
interesting note about Minster Lovell Manor House was that Lord Lovell was a
close friend of Richard III who awarded him the post of Constable of the Royal
Castle of Wallingford and Chamberlain of the Royal Household. Interesting that
this true story based upon myth, the Lovell family might date back to Richard
III and such historical times.

Minster Lovell Hall, Oxfordshire,England. Supposed site of The Mistletoe Bride

Hi Melinda,So glad you liked it. I forgot to mention that Kate Mosse's new release, The Mistletoe Bride is a UK release but I found it on Abebooks for $20 hardcover!

Hi Kevin,I was thinking of you and wondering if you've bought this one yet! It is a frightening tale. I just kept thinking, 'that poor family!' Yes, feeling a bit better. Thank you. Thank you both for stopping by and leaving comments.

Popular posts from this blog

Princess Elizabeth Tudor miniature by Nicholas Hilliard
On 18 March 1554 Princess Elizabeth was imprisoned in The Bell Tower at The Tower of London by order of her half sister and ruling Queen of England, Mary I (Tudor) or (Bloody Mary) and as a result of The Wyatt Rebellion. Mary was determined to turn back the clock on twenty years of religious reform and make England a Catholic nation again. Elizabeth conformed outwardly to the Catholic faith. But she could not distance herself too much from her Protestant supporters. When Sir Thomas Wyatt led a rebellion in January 1554, matters came to an unpleasant impasse. Wyatt had written to Elizabeth that he intended to overthrow Mary but his letter was intercepted, as was a letter from de Noailles to the king of France. His letter implied that Elizabeth knew of the revolt in advance, and repeated rumors that she was off gathering armed supporters. The government was able to suppress the rebellion before it spread very far and Wyatt was arre…

I thought I would bring this exhibit to you, my dear readers and friends. So, here are the contents of the exhibit containing two of Beatrix Potter's letters written to children she knew 1892-1905. Also included some of her watercolors, illustrations, photographs, etc. On display for the first time are twenty-two letters from the Morgan, the Victoria
& Albert Museum in London, and the Cotsen Children's Library at
Princeton University. Also you will find the Potter family photo albums sadly under glass. I would have loved to been able to hold them in my hands and just look over every black and white photograph. There was a board game as well. I had no idea one existed!

As a life long reader and admirer of Beatrix Potter visiting this exhibit felt like visiting old family …

I am a writer and researcher of Victorian studies. I research the personal life of Alfred Lord Tennyson, his wife and sons. Also, I am interested in the life of pioneering photographer Julia Margaret Cameron and her sitters.
My article on May Prinsep was published as part of the Julia Margaret Cameron Bicentenary Conference, University of Portsmouth, UK. I have given talks on Alfred Lord Tennyson in the US and UK. My articles on Alfred Lord Tennyson have been published on various blog sites as well.
I’ve written guest post articles on author websites from notable nineteenth century authors ranging from: The Bronte Sisters to Jane Austen and those fascinating Pre-Raphaelite artists and muses.